


Unrequited Trauma

by YESTOHAE



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Abuse, Best Friends, Broken Bones, Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First palace spoilers and Ryuji back story spoilers, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Nakaoka and Takeishi feature, Past Child Abuse, Reminiscing, Ren goes by Akira, Sad, Sad Sakamoto Ryuji, Spoilers, Trauma, Violence, kamoshida abuse, takes place right before Futabas palace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27985755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YESTOHAE/pseuds/YESTOHAE
Summary: Ryuji's chronic pain puts him in a difficult situation. Unable to properly reciprocate his feelings, he gets emotional in front of his best friend.(Incredibly short and unfortunately sloppily made. I needed to get this out of me :') thank you for reading! I will be making more persona 5 related stuff soon **hopefully less rushed next time haha!**)
Kudos: 18





	1. Frustration

Ryuji swung his backpack over his shoulder, sliding the wooden door open. He slipped out of class and walked down the hall, turning towards the school exit without even glancing behind him.

“Ryuji!”

With a small groan Ryuji turned on his heels, peeking back into the hallway.

“Oh, Hey.”

Ryuji spoke with an exhausted tone, holding a hand tightly to his hip while Akira draped his arm over his shoulder. Ryuji hissed in between his teeth, nudging his elbow into Akira's side, backing him off of him.

“Huh? Are you okay?” Akira placed a hand on the small of Ryuji's back while Ryuji collected his pained composure

“Uh... Y-Yeah, mostly. I meant to text you earlier that I was going home early, wasn’t gonna stick around to hang. But seems like you got out early too”

“Oh yeah, I finished my test earlier than anyone else so I just asked to use the bathroom and left with my backpack.”

“That gets you in trouble dude.”

Akira shrugged, watching Ryuji backup and lean against the wall.  
“Eh. The most I’ll get is my ear chewed off about skipping class from kawakami, but she probably wouldn’t even tell Sojiro about it. Anyways, what’s the issue? You always wanna hang out. Got a date?”

“What? No man. My hip is killing me.”  
“Why?”  
“Did I not tell you about my leg?”  
“I mean.. Kind of?”

Ryuji gently placed his hand on his face, dragging it up and through his blonde, slightly curly hair, before sighing and lifting himself off the wall to turn towards the exit.

“I uh… I gotta go home man. Last time this happened I fell mid way down the street in the red light district with my school uniform on. Wheeeew did I get some shit from the officer that escorted me home. heh.”

“Well.. Guess we can’t have that happen again.”  
Akira took Ryuji’s bag, putting it over his shoulder next to his own before grabbing Ryuji’s arm and slinging it over his shoulders.  
“What the hell- Dude you don’t have to do this.”  
“Nah it's good, I got nothing better to do anyways.”  
Akira smiled big, helping the limping Ryuji out of Shujin’s doors and through the front gate, taking their time to exit down the street and towards Aoyama-Itchome Station.

“For real though, I can take myself home. I'm not even that far man.”

Akira shook his head as they entered the subway cart, escorting Ryuji to a seat and very gently helping him take a seat.

“Don’t you have studying or.. I don’t know. Hang out with someone? Ann? Don’t you guys have a thing?”

Akira bit his tongue, almost laughing while placing their bags in between his legs.  
“That test I left class afterwards was a midterm. The only homework or studying I had was for that so now I'm free for a few days.” He giggled lightly as the subway doors shut, Ryuji stretching out his leg while Akira continued to speak

“Me and Ann have nothing between us. Everyone else is busy I guess. Yusuke is going through some weird mind clearing journey thing for his art, Makoto is studying for her exam tomorrow, Morgana was sick so he just stayed at the café with Shojiro. And really you are the only other person available besides Makoto.. But she ”  
Ryuji shrugged  
“Eh.. I guess. But you could have just called yourself a day. Took a nap, got something to eat maybe?”  
“I'm broke. Taking a nap is a waste of daylight”  
Ryuji sighed  
“Look just now, I didn’t really need your help. I would have been just fine on my own. This happens from time to time man. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

The two sat in silence, Ryuji flexing and rolling his left leg as the time passed, letting out a few groans and hisses, Akira asking each time if he was okay.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Sheesh man will you quit it!? I said I was fine!”

Akira turned forward with tension in his shoulders, ceasing to pay anymore attention out of fear of being too annoying after Ryuji had raised his voice in stress.

Eventually the subway came to a stop, and the doors opened. Akira, afraid to push anymore buttons, picked up their bags and hopped off the train, waiting for Ryuji to carefully find his balance and stiffly walk out of the cart and into the cold air of the Teikyu Building. Crossing the Ginza line Gate the two students didn’t exchange words, Akira patiently walking beside the slower Ryuji who cursed under his breath with every step, the longer the time went on the more pissed off the boy seemed to become. taking the escalator and walking into the busy streets of Shibuya, they crossed the station square and made it to central street.

“‘Kay. You can go home now.”

Ryuji didn’t even bother looking back over at his friend before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring of keys, looking through them with clenched teeth. Everything kept piling on, He got more annoyed every second he has to stand in the middle of that busy ass street

“Sorry.”

It took Ryuji all but one second to snap his head in Akira direction, the opposing boy star struck with the sudden venom from Ryuji’s stare.  
“What did you say?”

with a cock of Ryuji’s head and a subtle sliding of his hands into his pant pockets, His tone was harsh, but honest in questioning.  
Akira felt a giant spotlight on him. He bit the inside of his cheeks as his shoulders raised unintentionally, dropping Ryuji's bag to the floor while he watched his posture slouch. He could feel his heartbeat in his head and heat rush to his ears while he subtly took a step back

“I-I said I was sorry.” Akira confessed.

The blonde could only let out a sigh, slouching over to grab his back from off the concrete and hold it up and against his chest with both arms.

“shut up dude. seriously. You got no idea what’s running through this head” he tapped the top of his head lightly, looking up and giving the raven haired boy a small smirk.  
“No but really, I shouldn’t be blowin’ all of this passive aggressiveness onto you. I apologize. Really. You can come up if you want.”  
“I don’t want to intrude-“  
“Nah, get your butt over here.”  
Ryuji grabbed Akira at his wrist, pulling him next to his stride while he limped across the street and up the stairs into his apartment complex 

Opening the heavy apartment door, Ryuji immediately stretched out wide, dropping his bag at the front door and kicking off his shoes.  
“Finally.” He muttered, hauling himself into the kitchen while taking his jacket off and placing it on the counter 

“Want anything to drink? Water, Tea, soda? I think I have juice somewhere here too. Ohhh and some wineee.”  
Ryuji laughed to himself, bending over into the slightly smaller than normal fridge, grabbing his bottle of Calpis and turning to Akira.

“Water is fine.”

Ryuji squinted his eyes at him, raising an eyebrow and shaking his head while the boy carefully sat his things down and took off his jacket.  
“Alright. I got some chips and those straws you always ask for a bite of at your place.” Ryuji smiled, closing the fridge door and moving to grab a plastic grocery bag from his small dining table  
Ryuji wobbled towards his room, sliding open the door and throwing the bag onto the small table in the middle of the room. He took a seat on the edge of his bed and let out a loud moan, flopping backwards onto his blue sheets, holding out Akira’s water bottle while he propped his right leg up and onto the bed. Akira followed him inside, taking a seat on his floor cushion, taking the water bottle from Ryuji and turning to pick through the plastic bag of food.

“Feels good to be home?”  
“Yeah. Sorry for flipping out on you again.”  
“No I understand. It can be annoying to have to deal with that.”  
“So I never.. Told you how it happened?”  
“The day that Kamoshida spiked the ball straight into my face I was sitting where we usually sat next to the vending machines. I had overheard you arguing with Nakaoka and Takeishi about kamoshida, They said they were sorry about your leg at one point.. And then when we were in his palace, Kamoshida mentioned something about “breaking his star’s leg” but I was barely conscious.”

Ryuji sighed, reaching over to grab his pillow and flipping over to his side, facing Akira.

“Well.. You got most of it.”


	2. Exposed

Ryuji had finally made it to practice, the first time in a week after spraining his ankle from Kamoshida's ruthless training.

All eyes were stuck on him.

Nakaoka glared at him from the other side of the courtyard, shaking his head as he adjusted his knee brace, Takeishi then purposely slamming into his side from behind, pushing him out of the way with a scoff before sitting next to Nakaoka. He looked around, the area mostly dead silent with everyone huddled in their own groups, and there Ryuji was, standing singled out.  
A spotlight was fresh on him.  
He was the star anyways. He was the soul bond- the only reason why the track team was even still together and on the frontlines of Shujin Academy.  
He slouched, running his fingers through his already sweaty brown locks while letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Sooo.. Have you guys woken up yet? Noticed the shit I told you guys about? The shit Ksmoshida is putting us through? Are you guys finally seeing my point? This dick is pushing us all to the edge and it's clear that all of you are exhausted. You can’t tell me you aren’t sick of this right? Seriously you have to trust me on this-“

“Sakamoto, just shut up. Seriously. The track team is all we have. It’s the only thing keeping us relevant and the only thing keeping you from getting kicked from the academy.” Nakaoka hissed

“If his training is what it takes then whatever man. Kamoshida will be the reason why we make it to nationals. It shouldn’t be our fault that you can’t handle his pressure.”

“Handle his pressure? Takeishi you're insane!” Ryuji bit back at the brunette

“Listen Sakamoto-“  
Nakaoka stood up, walking up to the boy with fury in his eyes and a finger aimed straight at Ryuji's chest.  
“If you do anything to mess this up for us, you are gonna be so fucked.” He jammed his finger into Ryujis chest, only for Ryuji to retaliate, grabbing his wrist and yanking it away.

“This abuse. It’s got to stop. The girls are suffering from it too, I mean the asshole is sexually assaulting them! Kamoshida is ruining LIVES.”

Suddenly, Nakaoka stepped back.  
Ryuji could only stand surprised while he watched his fellow team mate stand down and look up.

“What’s going on.”  
A deep and striking voice crashed into Ryuji’s ears, the Brunette feeling sick to the pit of his stomach while slowly turning around to face his very enemy.

“Sakamoto. Care to explain?”

He put his arms on his hips, lowering his posture ever so slightly and looking to the side.  
“Not to you, dick head.”

Kamoshida pushed Ryuji by his shoulder, the strong force making him wobble backwards into the glassy area, practically collapsing into Nakaokas body.

“I truly do wonder how you’ve taken in so much of your fathers mannerisms, yet you think that I am the problem. Ah... Poor Sakamoto here has a bad home life, so he decides that putting it on all of us is okay!”

Kamoshida crossed his arms, taking steps forward while he watched Ryuji's body hesitate to the sound of his voice. Ryuji was struck by silence. He had no idea how to react to such confidential information spilling from his lips. Information that made his teammates look at him with furrowed brows.  
Unable to make a rebuttal, Kamoshida continued.

“And because he is the star of the track team, he thinks he is entitled to shout whatever lies he can muster so that anyone would believe him. Nobody to complain to but everyone here. Here. I’ll do you the courtesy of helping you out! Your teammates deserve the more likely truths. One’s that apparently you can’t talk about.”

Kamoshida grabbed Ryuji by the shoulder, causing him to yelp and struggle against his harsh grasp.

“Wh-What the hell-! Let go of me!”

The man grabbed at the red collar of Ryuji’s track suit jacket and forcefully removed it, making Ryuji only yell harder. Everyone around him starred as Kamoshida ripped the shirt straight off of his body, exposing a milky complexion ridden with bruises and cuts. Ryuji breathed hard, assuming his slouched position again while anxiously looking around at his teammates. Trying his hardest to cover what he could with his arms, Kamoshida grabbed him by the elbow, pressing hard around specific points that made holding his arm in the air the only comfortable position.

“Sakamoto's drunk daddy beats him. Him AND his poor sweet faced mother day in and day out.”  
He painfully twisted his arm, pointing at the inside of his wrist where scars and practically fresh cuts remained.

“You never see these! He hides them like a little poor pup! Never tells anyone! How could your star be so insecure, yet have the guts to spout nonsense of my so-called “abuse”, he can’t even speak out against his own family troubles!” Kamoshida dropped Ryuji's arm, throwing his shirt to the ground and crushing it into the dirt with crossed arms.  
Ryuji stared paralyzed with shock as he clutched his arms into his chest, looking down to the ground, feeling ashamed.  
Maybe he was right?  
He honestly couldn’t tell.  
Anxiety clouded his mind, making it harder to think as the seconds passed, the words Kamoshida said we’re like mush.

“Talk about selfishness. Just because he can’t be happy, he has to make sure no one is happy. Rumor has it that Sakamoto’s mother is a whore. She works as a prostitute just so she can help fund her little son. So inconsiderate.. She buys him manga and track wear, and Sakamoto has no remorse for her well being. Sakamoto has no one, not even his mommy.”

It was like a spark. The word “Mommy” coming out of his filthy mouth filled him with unbridled rage, anger he hadn’t felt in months.. Maybe even years. The anger seemed to clear his mind of his anxious fog. And in a split second, Kamoshida became the number one target on the line.

He swung.  
His fist violently connected with the cocky composer of the tall man, making him shut up almost immediately with the harsh hook to his jaw.

“Shut the HELL UP.”

Ryuji practically growled at the man whose head was frozen in the opposite direction.  
His blood was boiling at this point, a collective gasp hushed around the courtyard as Kamoshida's head slowly turned back to face Ryuji.

“You fucking pervert. None of that shit about my ma is true.”  
Ryuji seethed. taking heavy breaths between each word.

“Sometimes I wonder how a father couldn’t beat their child, especially when they birthed a brat like you. How your drunk father was stupid enough to even let a kid like you ever leave the house. A disappointing addition to the Sakamato family. I can almost sympathize with the man-”

Ryuji swung at the man's chest, a hit hard enough to only make him a little uneasy on his feet, but his composure all the same.

“STOP. FUCKING. TALKING.”

Ryuji punched again and again and again, every punch only proving to be weaker as he continued.

“Sakamato stop it!” Takeishi yelled, standing up to apprehend Ryuji, only to be stopped by Nakaoka’s arm reaching out across his chest, and a shake of the head.

“Insolent child.”  
Kamoshida snatched Ryuji by his wrists, the brunette's eyes widening he gripped specifically on pressure points, making him gasp and yelp in pain.

“Let go-“  
The man, using all of his force against Ryuji’s, knocked the boy down to the earth. With the small of his back smashing into the ground, the wind knocked straight out of him, his energy being expelled from his lash out made it harder to catch his breath. Ryuji was dizzy, a wheezing panic and a sun shining straight into his eyes, He could feel everything in that moment.

“Sorry all. But because of your little star here, the track team won’t be doing too well anytime soon.”

Kamoshida kicked Ryuji's side.

He yelled.

Another kick.

Another yelp.

“You just don’t shut up do you.”  
Attempting to pull himself back up, Ryuji turned his head up and to Kamoshida.  
“Shut the…. hell up… Bitch.” 

Kamoshida kicked his chest back down to the ground, placing a foot on the top of his neck and smothering it into the dirt. Ryuji audibly gasped and choked, smacking Kamoshida's leg and trying his hardest to pull it away. All the young boy could do was cry. With the tears rolling all Ryuji could do was let his mind race. The fear of losing his life was starting to sink in, because in all honesty, he wouldn’t put it past Kamoshida to kill one of his students.

“Look at him. A pathetic mutt. IS THIS WHO YOU WANT TO SHOW FOR YOU?”

He moved his foot from his neck to his face and right against his cheek. His face pressed against the dirt, the tears sweat and spit making all the dirt adhere to his face, all while Kamoshida smothered him.  
“Is this the face of Shujin athletics?! Is this the STAR BODY of Shujin athletics?!”  
Ryuji yelled inaudible words, whining and screaming while continuing to punch Kamoshida's leg and kick his feet into the dirt the longer it went on.

But for a moment, he walked away with no words, leaving Ryuji to himself with all eyes on him. He felt itchy. His sweaty torso and face were completely covered in dirt, a gross and itchy feeling that made him feel even more uncomfortable than he already was.

while he attempted to pick himself up from the ground. Small noises of struggle could be heard as he attempted to collect himself, only for a loud gasp to strike his ears.

“Ryuji-!” Nakaoka whispered as Takeishi tugged on his track suit, guiding them backwards and away.

The gasp made Ryuji crumble back to the ground in a panic, only to look up and watch the muscular silhouette approach him. Noticing a large rectangular object grasped in his hands, Ryuji began pushing his body back with his feet and arms.  
Looking fear right in the eyes be pleaded

“No no no no please please PLEASE DON’T-“

Kamoshida, with his Olympian winning throw, threw the brick straight at his thigh.

Ryuji let out a booming scream, one that shocked his teammates. He stopped moving instantaneously with the brick and grabbed at his thigh unable to even form coherent sentences again while he yelled curse words towards the sudden impact. The students around seemed to snap in fear, running behind Kamoshida and into the gymnasium while Kamoshida yelled words Ryuji couldn’t make out from the beaming pain. Kamoshida spat at Ryuji, kicking his chest back to the ground and pushing his leg flat on the dirt with his foot.

Ryuji panicked harder than he had ever before, mostly because he knew what was coming.

“I’M SORRY! PLEASE STOP! STOP IT!”

He waved his arms in front of the tower that was Kamoshida, his fear only deepening the longer he stood above him with an unsympathetic face.

“You aren’t sorry Sakamoto. You are crying just to run away. I must say though, how you can live with being… You.. is undeniably impressive, but I can see why you haven’t killed yourself yet. Being the prized athlete is all you have. The only thing you have to show to your precious mother is a medal that will be worth nothing in the long run. Bastard child. Had your old coach gave me a valid reason for the track team to stay together, maybe I wouldn’t have to do this. But me? I am more important to this school than you or the track team will ever be. I am all this school has.”

Kamoshida placed his foot right above the top of his knee, smothering his leg back to the ground

“Kamoshida y-you don’t want to do this.. They’ll find out what you did and you’ll regret every second of this! Please my mom can’t have this happen we have no money my dad walked out on us a week ago and we have nothing PLEASE I am begging you don’t hurt me please please please PLEASE”

Ryuji blabbed in a frenzy

“Shut the hell up before you never walk again”

Kamoshida slammed his foot on right above Ryuji’s knee.

over.  
and over.  
and over again.  
before finally.  
Snap!

It wasn’t as terrible as he thou

He screamed, louder than he had ever screamed before. His body launched up from the floor while his voice cracked and quivered with panic. Slamming his fist into the ground in pain he continued to yell while the adrenaline shot through his body. He tried his damn hardest to collect himself through the spit sweat and tears rolling down his face, but his body couldn’t stop shaking from the fear and realization of what this meant. Ryuji tried for a moment, to move his leg up again in disbelief that anything terrible had actually happened, but he could feel the bones rotating around each other, the feeling unnatural, the pain, excruciating.

“YOU BROKE MY LEG! MY FUCKING LEG! YOU SON OF A BITCH” Ryuji finally screamed coherent words at Kamoshida, but his face was dark and ominous, his stance unamused by the boy's cries.  
Chills shot up his body as the pain set in further. His hip, his thigh, his knee- all in incredible pain that made him more and more sick to his stomach. 

the adrenaline mellowed out sooner than expected and the heat of pain coursing further through his body  
“God fucking… dammit.”  
Hissing through his pain Ryuji felt more and more dizzy by the second, the pain so heavy on his body he had to twist to the side and throw up on the lawn.  
“fuck I… I can’t..”  
Ryuji breathed heavily, unable to hold himself up, so he turned his body to drop back to the ground.

“I can’t see… I… I… I need help..”

He felt cold.


	3. Thank you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning! Mention of self-harm.

“Yeah so… I passed the hell out and woke up in the hospital. To be honest the whole time I was knocked out I wasn’t sure if what happened was real, but when I woke up and looked down, I had rods and pins coming out of my thigh. It was.. freaky. My mom didn’t find out what happened till a day later, since I was barely conscious to tell them any useful shit, and they apparently lost my medical card in the school files. I’m sure it was Kamoshida that did that shit too.”  
Akira sat tentatively, adjusting his glasses and watching as Ryuji sat up to roll his pant sleeve up above his knee.

“I try to not bring too much attention to it since it's quite the conversation piece.. but a little too traumatic to wanna have on show y’know.”

The side of his thigh had a long scar from top of his knee to the middle of his thigh with 2 dimpled points of scarring on the top and bottom.

“They put this thing called an external fixation here, held my leg still and shifted the bone back in place. Shit was expensive. My mom and I barely had enough money to salvage it at the time, and my dad has just walked out on us. Since Kamoshida did it ‘in the name of self defense’ we weren’t entitled to any compensation. Plus I signed an athletic waiver with the academy when I started track that said they were not liable for any injury. I was pissed.”

Ryuji rolled back onto his side and sighed

“We couldn’t afford physical therapy, so that’s why this happens every now and again. Shit blows.”

Ryuji grabbed his blanket, pulling it up and over his head and curling up into a ball while groaning.

“That asshole ruined everything for me.”

Akira scooted forward, leaning up against his bed and resting his head on his hand

“Chronically pained me for the rest of my goddamn life. I can never run how I used to. The track team and the academy hate me for no reason. Calling me a damn delinquent every chance they have. I-I can’t even dye my hair blond without getting yelled at…” Akira raised his head to a subtle soft sniffling, pulling at Ryuji’s blanket only for him to flip around to face the wall.

“Ryuji-“

“Shut up.”

Ryuji's body shuddered, sniffling and taking in heavy deep breaths while Akira watched his back rise and fall.

Akira gently placed a hand on Ryuji's bicep.

“What you did was the right thing. Whether or not the people around you notice that doesn’t matter. You are your own person, and an incredibly smart one at that. You stood up against someone that no one else had the power to.”

“But if everyone you trusted turned their head at you, you’d start to think that maybe you are the issue.”

“No. Those people are the people that turn a blind eye for their own personal gain instead of helping people in need. You did just the opposite. You stood up for something, even if it meant stripping you of the one thing you loved doing. You did what you did in the name of others, not just yourself. What Kamoshida said about you being selfish couldn’t be farther from the truth. Not wanting to burden people with your family troubles, but instead wanting to help hold the weight of others who were struggling at the hand of Kamoshida is incredibly valiant.” 

Ryuji slowly turned around, his cheeks flush and eyes glassy. Akira had never seen a face like that from him

“After all, without you, the phantom thieves couldn’t be complete. Our whole job is to bring justice and punish the selfish adults that ruined our lives. Taking down the very people that take advantage of us. You are the bond that holds us together. You’re funny, strong, kind and most of all courageous. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how you felt that day. But what you did was a step that got us to where we are now.”

Ryuji covered his eyes, Akira gently placing his hand on top of his and carefully pulling it away from his face.

“Don’t hide from this feeling Ryuji. It is okay to face what you have hidden.”

“You are the reason why I could even bother facing Kamoshida again. I was a coward. Even walking in the courtyard gave me the creeps. But when you showed up to the academy… When you held me back from attacking Kamoshida again, saved me from getting my head chopped off by his guards and smiled at me for the first time when I awakened my persona… It became the first time in my life where I felt a feeling other than hatred towards myself.”

Akira's expression lightened, his cheeks a faint pink as he gingerly let go of his hold on Ryujis hand.

“You helped me too, Ryuji. My first friend and the first person to believe my story when I moved from Kagawa. It was hard speaking to people after my probation was assigned. I couldn’t tell if I was in the wrong since so many people had believed Masayoshi, just like you couldn’t tell if you we’re wrong with Kamoshida. But now we are here, and Kamoshida will be spending the rest of his sorry life in prison.”

“After a while of questioning yourself, shit gets unbelievably weird when you realize you were right all along. I mean when Kamoshida confessed everything I was for sure I was dreamin’ man.”

“Yeah. Especially being that it was our first time stealing someone’s heart.. Hard to believe that this is our norm now.”

“Haha! I know right! look at us now! The Phan! Tom! Thieves! Strong, sexy and cool as hell. But honestly sometimes I wish we could use our personas in real life. Lighting a cigarette on cue with agi in front of a hot babe? Whew, talk about a chick magnet I'd be.” Akira could only smile and shake his head, he knew talking about the phantom thieves always seemed to make Ryuji light up.

“Yeah but knowing you you’d probably electrocute yourself in the middle of class.”

“Heyyy, I would not! Believe it or not i’m kinda smart when it comes to this persona thing.”

“Oooookay, well, when personas become available in the human world, I’ll try to trust you.”

Akira puckered his lips and shook his head in a lovable way making Ryuji snort and sit up, crossing his legs and stretching a bit against the bed with closed eyes.

“Uh.. Ryuji?”

“What’s up?”

“You don’t still do that stuff do you?”

Ryuji rolled his head around and stretch his neck, peeking a eye over at Akira who pointed at his arm

“Oh.. Nah. I stopped that a little after we first met. Becoming a phantom thief made it too hard to have anytime to think badly of myself. I felt so pumped for the first time in forever that my mind couldn’t just sit on one thing. I was kinda glad that I stopped though, my ma kept fussing over it and I really did want to stop, but I had nothin’ for therapy, and it really was an addiction. Still now I get that urge but, when I think about you guys, it all just seems to melt away.”  
Akira let out a sigh of relief  
“That’s good. I’m really glad you’re still here.”

“I’m glad too! I love being here, and even more so being alongside you.”

“That’s… Great. Thank you for staying strong for us.”

“No problemo homie! Can’t let go now, not while there are still hearts to be snatchin’”

Akira laughed, turning to the grocery bag and pulling out Ryuji’s favorite, his Calbee potato snacks, and tossing it over to him.

“Alright. Movie time? Game time? Manga time?”

“OH YEAHAHAH! Let’s go, my brotha! Now you are speaking my love language!”

Akira smiled, Standing up and plopping onto his bed before squishing him with a massive cuddly hug, Ryuji smothering himself into his neck and wrapping his arms around him tightly.

"I love you, dude."

"I love you too, stupid."


End file.
